IT is a case of in with the new as Bolton magistrates leave their historic home this month after 83 years.

Justice will continue to be dispensed as usual in the town, but instead of the Grade II listed building at the end of Le Mans Crescent defendants will be tried and sentenced by magistrates at the existing Crown Court building in nearby Black Horse Street.

Last year, in a national review of courts, the Ministry of Justice announced that the work of the County and Family Court at Black Horse Street would be transferred to the Civil Justice Centre in Manchester.

The space vacated by the court on the ground floor of the building was earmarked to house the magistrates’ court.

Work to create three modern criminal courtrooms is now nearing completion and on November 30 magistrates and 25 staff members will say farewell to their historic surroundings and begin hearing cases in the new building.

Deputy chairman Stephen Paine admits it will be a bittersweet moment.

“It is probably going to be quite a sad day because we are leaving a building we have loved,” he said.

“But whilst the old courtrooms are beautiful, they are not practical,” he said. “Everyone has come to realise the benefits of moving into the new building. We have got to move with the times.”

The Crown Court will continue to operate on the upper floors of the Black Horse Street building whilst the ground floor has been transformed to create a waiting area and help desk and three courtrooms, one of which has a secure dock. Two security arches will be installed at the entrance to the building and the public will also have access to a cafeteria on the second floor.

But magistrates’ legal advisor Amory Hall says it is the access to modern technology in the new building, including wi-fi, video links to prisons and a digital case system which will make the biggest improvement to the administration of justice.

“Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service has generated a plan for the future. Part of that strategy is, quite clearly, a large degree of digitisation and use of new technology,” said Mr Amory.

It is just over 83 years since the first defendant, a man sentenced for breaching the peace, appeared in the dock at the existing Bolton Magistrates’ Court.

The building, with its adjacent police offices and cells, opened on October 29 1934 and was the first part of the Crescent, an extension to the Victorian Town Hall, to be completed.

Designed by local architects Bradshaw, Gass and Hope, it replaced the old courtroom in the Town Hall and included two main courtrooms, the largest of which has an upper floor public gallery.

At the first sitting the Mayor, Alderman Dr Ernest Monks commented that he had, “not the slightest doubt that justice would be dispensed there as satisfactorily as in the old Town Hall without fear or favour, with mercy and dignity.”

Over the years the court has seen thousands of defendants pass through its doors, from petty thieves to murderers and, when not sitting, has played host to film crews keen to use its grandeur as a backdrop.

It has been regularly used in Coronation Street and an episode of Phoenix Nights and court staff even used it to put on mock trials for the public during August Bank Holiday Victorian markets.

Over the years the interior has been adapted to meet modern needs, including replacing the waist-high dock railings with secure glass enclosures and converting upstairs offices into additional courtrooms.

But although the magistrates will now have more modern surroundings they are hoping to retain some of the town’s judicial history by taking some items, such as the ornate carved justices’ chairs with them.

To mark leaving the Le Mans Crescent building magistrates and staff, past and present, are holding a get-together after the final sitting on November 30.

The vacated building is owned by Bolton Council which is now exploring options for its future use.

However, because of its listed status there will be restrictions on any alterations